scheme of prophecy shall receive its final accomplishment, and "the MYSTERY OF GOD BE FINISH"ED *."

It is obvious, that every part of the Psalter, when explicated according to this Scriptural and primitive method, is rendered universally "profitable for doc"trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in " righteousness ;" and the propriety immediately appears of its having always been used in the deyotional way, both by the Jewish and the Christian church. With regard to the Jews, bishop Chandler very pertinently remarks, that" they must have uŋ"derstood David, their prince, to have been a figure "of Messiah. They would not otherwise have "made his Psalms part of their daily worship, nor "would David have delivered them to the church to be so employed, were it not to instruct and

support them in the knowledge and belief of this "fundamental article. Was the Messias not con"cerned in the Psalms, it were absurd to celebrate, "twice a day, in their public devotions, the events of "one man's life, who was deceased so long ago as

66

to have no relation now to the Jews, and the cir"< cumstances of their affairs; or to transcribe whole

passages from them, into their prayers for the

coming of the Messiah t." Upon the same prin

+ Defence of Christianity, Part First, p. 241.

1

Are

ciple, it is easily seen, that the objections which may
seem to lie against the use of Jewish services in
Christian congregations, cease at once. Thus, it
may be said, Are we concerned with the affairs of
David and of Israel? Have we any thing to do with
the ark and the temple? They are no more.
we to go up to Jerusalem, and to worship on Sion?
They are desolated and trodden under foot by the
Turks. Are we to sacrifice young bullocks, accord-
ing to the law? The law is abolished, never to be
observed again. Do we pray for victory over Moab,
Edom, and Philistia; or for deliverance from Baby-
lon? There are no such nations, no such places in
the world. What then do we mean, when, taking
such expressions into our mouths, we utter them in
our own persons, as parts of our devotions, before
God? Assuredly we must mean a spiritual Jerusa-
lem and Sion; a spiritual ark and temple; a spiri-
tual law; spiritual sacrifices; and spiritual victories
over spiritual enemies; all described under the old
names, which are still retained, though "old things
are passed away, and all things are become new

*

* 2 Cor. v. 17. Ergo arrige aures, Christiane Lector, et ubi talia in Davide legeris, tu mihi fac cogites, non Arcam, fragile lignum, aut Tabernaculum contectum pellibus; non urbem lapidibus compositam; non Templum divinæ Majestati angustum: sed Christi et Ecclesiæ Sacramenta, sed vivos lapides, Christo angulari lapidi coaptatos; sed ipsam Eucharistiam præ

By substituting Messiah for David, the Gospel för the law, the church Christian for that of Israel, and the enemies of the one for those of the other, the Psalms are made our own. Nay, they are, with more fulness and propriety, applied now to the substance, than they were of old to the " shadow of good things then to come*" And, therefore, ever since the commencement of the Christian æra, the church hath chosen to celebrate the Gospel mysteries in the words of these ancient hymns, rather than to compose for that purpose new ones of her own. For, let it not pass unobserved that, when, upon the first publication of the Gospel, the apostles had occasion to utter their transports of joy, on their being counted worthy to suffer for the name of their dear Lord and Master, which was then opposed by Jew and Gentile, they brake forth into an application of the second Psalm to the transactions then before their eyes: see Acts iv. 25. The primitive Christians constantly followed this method, in their devotions; and particularly when, delivered out of the hands of persecuting tyrants by the victories of Constantine, they praised God for his goodness, and the glorious success and establishment of Christ's religion, no words were found so exquisitely adapted to the pur

sentis Dei testem; denique cæleste regnum et æternam felicitatem. BOSSUET, Dissertat. de Psal. cap. i. ad fin.

* Heb. x. 1.

pose, as those of David, in the xcvith, xcviiith, and other Psalms-" Sing unto the Lord a new song:

sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the "Lord, and praise his name: be telling of his sal"vation from day to day. Declare his honour unto "the heathen, his worship unto all people," &c. &c. &c. In these, and the like Psalms, we continue to praise God, for all his spiritual mercies in Christ, to this day.

The Psalms, thus applied, have advantages which no fresh compositions, however finely executed, can possibly have; since, besides their incomparable fitness to express our sentiments, they are, at the same time, memorials of, and appeals to, former mercies and deliverances; they are acknowledgements of prophecies accomplished; they point out the connexion, between the old and new dispensations, thereby teaching us to admire and adore the wisdom of God displayed in both, and furnishing, while we read or sing them, an inexhaustible variety of the noblest matter that can engage the contemplations of man.

Why is the mind more than ordinarily affected, and either melted into sorrow, or transported with joy, when, on the days set apart for the commemoration of our Saviour's birth, passion, resurrection, &c. the Proper Psalms are read, which the church hath appointed, following herein the directions of evangelists and apostles, and the usage of the early ages

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Why, but because, by such appointment, we are necessarily put upon transferring our ideas from the complaints or exultations of David and Israel, to those of a suffering or glorified Messiah, of whose sufferings or glories we participate, as members of his mystical body? And how much more intense would be the effect, if, in the sermons preached on those occasions, such Proper Psalms were expounded to the people, and their propriety evinced, as it might easily be! Discourses of this kind would make the hearts of the auditors to " burn within them;" and men would cease to wonder, that three thousand Jews were converted to the faith by St. Peter's animated discourse on part of the sixteenth Psalm. Were believers once brought well acquainted with these Proper Psalms, they would be better enabled to study and apply the rest, which might likewise be explained to them, at different times, and certainly afford the finest subjects on which a Christian orator can apply his eloquence. That this was done in the primitive church, we learn from the exposition of the Psalms left us by St. Chrysostom in the east, and St. Augustin in the west, those expositions still subsisting in the form of homilies, as delivered to their respective congregations. Is it not to be feared that, for want of such instructions, the repetition of the Psalms, as performed by multitudes, is but one degree above mechanism? And is it not a